Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi ordered an inspection of the 59th Separate Motorized Brigade "Yakiv Handziuk" due to the unit's recent losses, Ukraine's General Staff said on July 15.
The announcement came only a day after Azovstal defender and medic Kateryna Polishchuk, known under the nickname Ptashka ("bird"), called on Syrskyi and President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the unit over the alleged misconduct of its commander, Bohdan Shevchuk.
"Since thousands of soldiers remain in the combat zone under Shevchuk's leadership, I ask you, Commander-in-Chief, to pay heed and conduct an internal investigation," Polishchuk wrote in a Facebook post on July 14, accusing Shevchuk of "criminal orders, negligence, actions that resulted in the deaths of a large number of troops," as well as careerism, removal of dissenting commanders, and other transgressions.
The General Staff's statement did not explicitly name Polishchuk nor Shevchuk and did not mention specific circumstances that led to the start of the investigation.
The 59th Brigade is deployed near Krasnohorivka in Donetsk Oblast, a front-line town under heavy pressure by Russian forces.
Polishchuk was captured by Russia in May 2022 after Azovstal, a metallurgical plant that served as Ukraine's last remaining holdout in besieged Mariupol, fell into Russian hands. The medic was released alongside over 200 defenders in the fall of the same year, joining the 59th Brigade and returning to the front soon after.
While praising the unit's previous commanders, Polishchuk said that Shevchuk was appointed to the position in April 2024 through "family ties in the top military leadership."
"Because of Shevchuk's inhuman and unprofessional attitude, I was forced to stop cooperating" with this unit, Polishchuk wrote, adding that "not everybody has the chance to resist the criminal orders aimed solely at winning extra stars by this man."
Polishchuk left the military last month, referring to "painful changes" in her life.
Last month, Zelensky dismissed Commander of the Joint Forces Lieutenant General Yurii Sodol.
Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Krotevych, one of the Azov Brigade's commanders, said on June 23 that he filed an official complaint to the State Bureau of Investigation calling for an investigation of one of the generals.
According to Ukrainska Pravda's undisclosed sources, the general in question was Sodol.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
